Display System

• US 20120249786A1
• Filed: 03/27/2012
• Published: 10/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SRT Marine System Solutions Ltd. (SRT Marine Systems, PLC)
• Original Assignee: Geovs
• Inventors: Goralski, Rafal
• Granted Patent: US 10,235,804 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/143
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/003 Navigation within 3D models or images

Abstract

A display system, method, and computer readable storage to provide a visual representation of an environment. A marker is placed by a user tagging a physical location in the environment. When the user looks at the environment using different viewpoints, the visual representation can automatically be adjusted via a programmed processing unit so that the marker would appear in the same physical location in the window each time the viewpoint is changed. For example, if the marker is placed to tag a real world boat in a visual representation, changing the viewpoint would maintain the marker in the same position in the visual representation in the window. By changing viewpoints, an object marked by a marker would remain in the same position in the window while other aspects of the visual representation would automatically change including zoom, rotation, pan, to accommodate the static position of the marker.

Claims

1. A display system for providing a visual representation of an environment, the system comprising:

an electronic output device and an electronic input device;

a processing unit operationally connected to the output device and the input device, the processing unit configured to;

receive environment information about an environment;

output a window on the output device that displays a representation of the environment with a marker representing a particular physical location in the environment; and

display said representation from a plurality of different viewpoints, each viewpoint comprising the marker being displayed at a same fixed location within said window, each representation in the plurality of viewpoints is arranged such that the marker represents the particular physical location.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured such that the representation is displayed in 3-dimensions.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured such that said marker is positioned within said representation by a user using the input device.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured such that the representation follows the topography/bathymetry of the environment as the user moves the marker within the representation.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured such that the marker is selectably positioned or further positioned within said window by a user.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured such that a view angle of the representation is rotatable by the user about an axis comprising the marker.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured such that a zoom of the representation is adjustable by the user.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured such that the portion of the environment displayed in the representation can be adjusted by a user re-positioning the marker.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to automatically display at least one group of environment features.

10. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of sensor modules which are configured to acquire the environment information from at least one environment sensor and transmit the environment information to the processing unit.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to implement a graphical user interface to enable a user to input commands to the system.

12. The system as recited in claim 10, further comprising optimisation modules for optimising the representation of the environment in accordance with the environment information acquired from the sensor modules and user input commands.

13. The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising surveillance modules configured to maintain real-time spatial relationships between objects within the representation and alert a user to potential dangers in the environment.

14. The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising an automated surveillance module configured to enable a passive surveillance of the environment without requiring any active analysis by the user.

15. The system as recited in claim 13, further comprising a communication unit to communicate surveillance information received from the surveillance modules to remote locations.

16. A method to provide a visual representation of an environment, the method comprising:

providing an electronic output device, an electronic input device, and a processing unit operationally connected to the output device and the input device;

receiving, by the processing unit, environment information about an environment;

outputting, on the output device, a window on the output device that displays a first representation of the environment from a first viewpoint with a marker representing a particular physical location in the environment;

receiving an instruction from a user using the input device to change viewpoints; and

displaying, in the window on the output device, a second representation of the environment from a second viewpoint with the marker being displayed at a same fixed location within said window as the marker was displayed in the first representation while the marker represents the particular physical location, the second viewpoint being different than the first viewpoint.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

enabling the user to rotate a view angle of the window about an axis which passes through the marker.

18. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

enabling the user to zoom in or out in the window.

19. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

enabling the user to move the marker and the updating the window to follow the topography of the environment as the marker is moved.

20. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

enabling the user to re-position the marker which adjusts a portion of the environment displayed in the window.